Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Sansad Ratna Awards Committee organised an interaction session with Shri B Srinivasa Prabhu, (Director of Lok Sabha Secretariat, Delhi) on Saturday the 4th October 2014 at Dr MGR Janaki Arts and Science College, Chennai. G A Prithvi, coordinator of this event and a member of Sansad Ratna Team welcomed the gathering.

During his interaction session, Shri Srinivasa Prabhu explained the various functions of Parliament and the role of MPs. He also explained how a bill is introduced and passed in the Parliament, before it is implemented.

He shared one interesting incident in the Lok Sabha. When all the bills come into force only after being passed in both the Houses of Parliament and the approval of the President, the finance bill comes into force from the midnight of the day on which it is introduced in the Lok Sabha. All taxes and duties have to be levied from the midnight of the same day.

While introducing the bill, the Finance Minister has to say "I introduce the bill". When Indira Gandhi was the Finance Minister, the bill was presented to the Lok Sabha. There was melee in the House. There was a confusion whether the Finance Minister said "I introduce the bill". There was no Lok Sabha TV during those time for verification. If the FM had not said 'I introduce the bill', this would have created a legal problem for enforcing the tax from the midnight. To avoid legal problem, at that time, speaker summoned all the Lok Sabha Members at 10 pm in the night. Indira Gandhi formally introduced the bill in the sitting held at 10 pm.

About this Award

Prime Point Foundation has been honouring the top performing Members of Parliament based on their performance in the House. (Questions raised, debates participated, issues raised, private bills introduced and attendance),

From 2012, the Foundation has named this award as 'Sansad Ratna Award'.